Syria: John Kerry says Russia talks 'constructive’

John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, has said talks with Russia on the
Syrian crisis are “constructive” after he and Sergei Lavrov agreed to set a
date for a UN peace conference before the end of the month.

Speaking after a joint session with Mr Lavrov and Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN Special Envoy, Mr Kerry said the date for Geneva II – a much delayed peace conference on Syria – would be set at their next meeting on September 28 in New York.

The US and Russia launched negotiations last night over Syria’s chemical weapons which are expected to see the Damascus regime put its stockpile under international supervision. Russia has insisted that a pact on chemical weapons should trigger the revival of the UN-sponsored peace talks on a transitional government to end the civil war.

“We both agreed ... to meet again in New York around the time of the UN General Assembly around the 28th in order to see if it is possible then to find a date for that conference,” Mr Kerry said, adding that the outcome would ultimately “depend on the capacity to have success here ... on the subject of the chemical weapons.”

The Secretary of State said that the chemical weapons negotiations, which dominated by detailed expert level exchanges, would go on through Friday.

US Secretary of State John Kerry (L) shakes hands with UN-Arab League special envoy for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi next to Russian Foreign minister Sergey Lavrov (Photo: PHILIPPE DESMAZES/AFP/Getty Images)

“We would both agree that we had constructive conversations regarding that, but those conversations are continuing,” he said.

One of the sticking points of the talks is that while the US insists the threat of military intervention must remain in place to compel the Syrian government to fully disclose and destroy its chemical weapons.

However Mr Lavrov said that an agreement in Geneva must “remove the need” for a strike.

US officials remain fearful that Bashar al-Assad’s government would renege on a deal if it does not face consequences.

“Syria needs to take immediate actions to disclose, surrender and eliminate its chemical weapons stockpile under international monitoring and verification,” said Erin Pelton, a spokesman for the US mission in Geneva. “Statements without action are wholly insufficient for a country that has had a secret, enormous chemical weapons program for decades.” Mr Lavrov said he it was important that an accord was reached quickly on chemical weapons if the diplomats were to meet the New York deadline on a peace conference.

“We agreed to meet in New York on the margins of the General Assembly and see where we are and see what the Syrian parties think about it and do about it, and we hope we would be able to be a bit more specific when we meet with you in New York.”

Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, also hinted that the Geneva talks were making progress as he welcomed a decision from Damascus to join the Chemical Weapons convention. This is “an important step towards the resolution of the Syrian crisis” and added: “This confirms the serious intention of our Syrian partners to follow this path.”